Rep. Victoria Spartz confronted Attorney General Merrick Garland over the DOJ’s aggressive pursuit of January 6 protesters, some charged with felonies under an obscure statute meant for financial crimes.
Spartz noted hundreds were convicted and sentenced to lengthy terms that would otherwise have been misdemeanors.
She asked if the DOJ has plans to remedy this if the Supreme Court, as expected, sides with defendants in a related case challenging the statute’s use.
“Okay, so the history, the section was legislated for Sarbanes–Oxley, with Enron’s situation to deal with a situation that happened under financial crimes, right? And actually, the title is a tampering with a witness, victim, and informant. Is that correct? You agree with that?” Rep. Spartz asked.
Garland said the DOJ would follow the Supreme Court’s ruling but provided no clarification on prosecutions already carried out.
“Our plan is that we will follow the law that the Supreme Court tells us. We don’t know yet what the Supreme Court will say. I can assure you we will follow what the Supreme Court says,” Garland said.
Spartz criticized the DOJ’s ambiguous interpretation of the law for destroying lives while it has employed no similar standard for violent 2020 protests.
“Well, your ambiguous interpretation destroys people’s lives,” Spartz said.
